'File 19/191 I (C 27) Bahrain, Persian Claim To' [‎5r] (18/478)

■ "f 11 s ^ me y ear J J' 83, the Persian Arab Sheikhs of Bushire and Hormuz,
assisted by Persian troops, made preparations on a large scale for an attack on
-bahrem, m which the Sheikh of the Qowasim on the Pirate Coast was to take part,
but the expedition never sailed. In 1785 similar preparations were made, but were
broken up by the death of Ali Murad Khan of Shiraz.
During the domestic difficulties of the Shiraz Government which followed
.Bahiein remained unmolested, during which time it acquired a great mercantile fleet,
and the prosperity of the islands developed till they became the chief commercial
emporium of the western end of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
m ' ;<)r next generation such threats as were made to the independence of
Bahrein came, not from Persia, but from other sources.
In 1791 Sayyid, Sultan of Muscat, with the encouragement of the Persian
Governor of Shiraz, which place was no longer the seat of the Persian Government,
declared war on Bahrein.
The Utab Sheikhs, alarmed by his proceedings, opened correspondence with
Sheikh Nasir of Bushire, and, on their offering to become tributary to Persia, the
sheikh proceeded privately to Bahrein and received an instalment of the revenue for
the previous year on behalf of Persia.
11. In 1800 Sayyid, Sultan of Muscat, invaded Bahrein, deported twenty-five
of the leading families to Muscat, and established an Omani garrison on Muharraq
Island. This garrison was, in the following year, however, compelled by the Utab to
surrender and to evacuate Bahrein.
The Persians do not seem to have assisted, but in the same year, 1801, the
Muscat ruler, with assistance from Bushire, given with the permission of the Persian
Governor of Shiraz, again landed at Bahrein.
12. By this time, however, the Bahrein Sheikhs had secured the support of the
Wahabis, who were threatening the outposts of Oman, and Sayyid Sultan was
obliged to return to protect his own country. Por the next ten years the Sheikhs of
Bahrein succumbed, though reluctantly, to the influence of the Wahabis.
In 1803 they sent a fleet to cruise against Muscat during the pearl season, and
not only sustained the resultant pecuniary loss, but also received a heavy defeat.
In 1805 they joined a movement to destroy Wahabi influence, but in 1810 the
Wahabis appointed an agent to live at Bahrein to superintend the administration,
though leaving the local authority in the hands of the Utab Sheikhs. At the same
time they appointed Wahabi teachers to convert the people to the Wahabi doctrine.
13. In 1811 the Wahabi Amir reduced his garrison in Bahrein in consequence
of the gradual advance of the Egyptians on his frontiers. The Imam of Muscat
attacked Bahrein, and the Wahabi agent was taken prisoner and the power of the
Utab restored.
14. To follow, year by year, the change of fortune of Bahrein, its dependence
now upon the Wahabis, its dangers now from the Sultan of Muscat, and then the
Egyptians, who had ousted the Wahabis, the claims of Turkey from the date they
conquered the Wahabi country, and the continued though intermittent claim of
Persia, though every detail of it bears upon our position in Bahrein and that of
Persia, has taken a hundred pages of foolscap to note upon. It is obvious that no
despatch could bear this weight. I have accordingly written, with the assistance of
Major Barrett, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. of Bahrein, a monogra ph on the subject, which I will
forward separately and which can be referred toT'iT necessary, and in this despatch I
will attempt to keep to the main events which have affected the question.
15. In 1817 the Resident found the conduct of the Utab Sheikh most unsatis
factory An East India Company trading post. in connection with piracy, our main concern in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and
Bahrein became the principal mart for the property plundered by pirates, and the
main depot from which the Qowasim, the pirate centre, drew their supplies of rice
and dates.
In the previous year, 1816, the Resident, Lieutenant Bruce, of the Indian navy,
had made in informal agreement with the sheikhs, and in 1819 an agreement of a
similar nature was contemplated by the Government with the object of restraining
the Bahrein Arabs from piracy.
16. In 1820 the Persian Governor asked the Sultan of Muscat, and, indeed, the
British also, to convey Persian troops to Bahrein. In the same year the Bahrein
Government, fearing that an attack would succeed, made full submission to the
Sultan of Oman and agreed to pay him an annual tribute of 3,000 dollars per
annum.
Both parties appear to have asked for the guarantee of the British Government
to this agreement.
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